Room-temperature ferromagnetic and ferroelectric behavior in polycrystalline ZnO-based thin films

Polycrystalline ZnO-based thin films with Li and/or Co doping have been prepared by a sol-gel spin-coating method on silicon substrates. Magnetization measurements reveal that Li-doped ZnO film shows paramagnetic behavior. However, the Co-doped ZnO thin films show obvious room-temperature ferromagnetic properties, and ferromagnetic properties can be enhanced by the Li codoping, which may be ascribed to indirect exchange via Li-related defects. All ZnO-based films exhibit ferroelectric behavior, and ferroelectric properties can be tuned by the dopants. (C) 2007 American Institute of Physics.